A federal sentencing council for Australia

In June 2006, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) released a report on the sentencing of federal offenders. As part of its examination of measures that might promote better and more consistent sentencing, the ALRC considered the potential benefits and disadvantages of establishing a federal sentencing council. In its report, the ALRC concludes that three of the primary functions of sentencing council - research, advice and rule-making-are currently preformed by other Australian agencies, will be preformed by other agencies if the recommendations in the Report are implemented, or (in the case of rule-making) are not appropriate in the federal criminal justice system. This chapter reproduces the extracts of the ALRC's report Same Crime, Same Time: Sentencing of Federal Offenders (ALRC, 2006) that examines the viability of a federal sentencing council for Australia. (Excerpt)